Jude Bellingham brushed off criticism from England head coach Thomas Tuchel after his two goals against Norway secured a 2-1 victory and a place in the World Cup semi-finals for the fourth time. The Real Madrid star’s virtuoso display inspired a comeback after Andreas Schjelderup had given Norway the lead, with Bellingham scoring a controversial equalizer just before half-time.
Controversial Equalizer and Extra-Time Winner
Replays appeared to show a Norway goal-kick hitting an overhead cable in the buildup to Bellingham’s equalizer, although FIFA released a statement saying it had not. In the third minute of extra time, Bellingham pounced on a mistake from Norway goalkeeper Ørjan Håskjold Nyland to score his sixth goal of the World Cup, putting him two behind Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé and level with captain Harry Kane.
Tuchel’s Criticism and Bellingham’s Response
Despite reaching the semi-finals for the first time since 2018 under Gareth Southgate, Tuchel was clearly unhappy with England’s performance. “The result is fantastic, we are in the last four – it’s amazing – but I’m not happy with the performance,” he told ITV. “In every sense. Again the commitment is there but we made life very very difficult for ourselves in the way we played, how we played: sloppy, a lot of technical mistakes, not fast enough, not repetitive enough. We were lucky today.”
Bellingham was unimpressed when asked to respond. “Yeah, well, whatever. Whatever,” he said, his body language also telling. “It’s difficult out there. It’s a tough shift. All the players have put in a tough shift, so my thoughts and appreciation goes to the players who were out there and put in a great shift yet again.”
Kane’s Perspective
Harry Kane offered a more measured view, saying of Tuchel: “He just said in the changing room: massive congratulations and we should enjoy it and celebrate but it still feels like there’s a part of him that knows we can do better, which in a way is a good thing. If we are in the semi-final of a World Cup knowing we can still improve, still find another level, then we’ve got to take that as a positive.”
England now await their semi-final opponent as they aim to win the World Cup for the first time since 1966.
